Saiyuki Royale
by Anonymonimus
Summary: Genjo Sanzo and ten other contestants are ripped out of their homes to participate in a horrible program organized by all the countries in the world; the Battle Royale program. There he will have to fight for his life if he ever hopes to escape the horrible arena but what Genjo never expected was to meet a certain monkey boy... MODERN AU. Descriptive Deaths, Gore and Violence
1. Battle Royale

**So this is my first fic for this account (I have another one lol)**

**I wrote it for a friend and gave her permission to post this story on her own account but since she hasn't gone around to doing it, I'm doing it lol xD**

**Anyways, this is a Saiyuki cross to the modern times | in a parallel world where a program called Battle Royale exists. Now I'm not going to say more because I explain it in the story but I'll tell you one thing, the Hunger Games was based off Battle Royale so that should give you guys an idea xD**

**ENJOY**

* * *

Without knowing why but with a suspicion, Genjo Sanzo found himself on a bus, alone, with two armed men situated at the front with the driver. They wore helmets with the government's not-so-secret abbreviation – B.R. – which informed him that he had been selected at random from the Japanese lists of juvenile youths with intriguing battling skills and would now have to kill all of his opponents if he wanted to live. He was going to take part in the _Battle Royale program_; something the government invented years ago after the publishing of the actual book the event was based off in order to entertain the rich folk of the world that would wager on a potential winner based off the profiles they were given.

From year to year, the location of the horrendous massacre would change from countries to countries; the previous year, it had been held in the United States of America and the one before that had been in Russia. Only part of the footage was actually shown to the public after the deed was done to warn them that a winner had been chosen; it was a device used to control the population's behaviour because they all strongly believed that if they were good, then they or their loved ones would be spared from the bloody arena.

However, Genjo Sanzo was probably the only one who knew that they were all mistaken; that good behaviour, high statuses or bribery had no play whatsoever in the selection of the participants, the only thing the government cared for was strength and fighting skills. Any physical advantage to make the battle all the more entertaining to its rich viewers whom were ready to spend thousands of dollars blindly on wagering a victor was what the government searched for.

"This guy's pretty quiet." Remarked one of the armed men at the front; he tried to be quiet but his voice still made its way to Genjo's ears. "One would think that a person would freak out in this situation…"

"It's because you're new and this is the first guy you've ever seen being hauled to the arena." Stated the other who was clearly annoyed by his companion's ignorance. "Every other person I escorted to the arena always flipped out and demanded to be let off the bus; throwing claims like they weren't fighting material. This guy's different."

"Because he's quiet?"

"Because he knows what's going on, has accepted his fate and isn't struggling." Corrected the wiser of the two guards, "And that's how he's going to win."

The younger must have given his superior a look of perplexity but that was information hypothesized by Genjo since he couldn't see their faces due to the helmets. "How do you know that?"

"I heard that every other participant who won was always calm and level headed on their way to the arena." He explained, "It's a rumour but it seems credible enough."

"Still…" the other persisted. "He was dragged out of his home and planted on bus…anyone would be spooked in this situation."

"Again; not if you're calm and level headed."

It was true.

Genjo Sanzo had brutally been ripped out of his home and he had felt something near panic at the time because he didn't understand why the people were present. He tried to fend them off and remembered knocking a few of them out before feeling a heavy blow to the back of the head which pushed him into unconsciousness. He remembered coming to a few times; his eyes had felt heavy and his mind was fogged but he still knew that whoever had taken him had drugged him. The next time he opened his eyes for a vague second, he saw a blinding light and heard:

"He's perfectly fine but might wake up with a migraine."

At the time he hadn't understood what the man meant because everything was happening so fast not to mention that he was drugged, but now that he replayed the memories in his head, he knew that he had been examined by a doctor to see if he was still able to participate in the program. And the doctor had been right; he did have a slight migraine, but that wasn't going to be enough to pull him out of the situation.

Genjo turned his gaze to stare outside, trying his best to ignore the chat the two guards were having about the possible victor of this year and concentrated on locating himself. He had always had a fascination with geography – something he couldn't necessarily explain – thus he memorised each mountain, hill, peninsula, curve, forest and whatnot of many lands such as Japan. Something that proved to be very convenient for him at the moment, since he now knew that he was still in the Kanto Region but in the outskirts Chiba Prefecture, where thick forests began. Judging by the distance they'd traveled, Genjo Sanzo assumed that he must have been out for at least a day if he counted the duration of the inspection he had gone through with the doctor when he was drugged.

Now the sun was setting or was rising – he wasn't too sure anymore – he just knew that they must have been nearing the location to the arena. As his eyes concentrated on the sun painting the sky orange and amber, a certain feeling birthed in his stomach that he immediately identified as need. Genjo wondered for a few minutes what the need could be when he realised that he hadn't had a smoke in a while – a realisation he would have had earlier if it wouldn't have been for the fact that the government had basically kidnapped him.

"Hey." He called catching the attention of the two guards. "Got any smokes?"

They both exchanged looks, the youngest seemed to be wondering if they were ever given permission to do such a thing or even simply interact with the participant of the program but the eldest one made up his mind rather quickly. He walked to where Genjo sat and pulled out a pack from his right pocket and handed it to the participant.

"We don't normally talk to participants." The elder guard explained, taking a seat across the youth before tossing him his lighter. Genjo lit up his cigarette and gave it back to the government agent. "No, keep it."

"Suit yourself." He shrugged and puffed out a cloud of smoke. There was silence as Genjo pondered whether he should question the guard on what he was supposed to expect once they would arrive in the location and since the man was still present before him, he began to assume that he was open to the idea of answering. "So…what's your name?"

Might as well start small.

"Just call me _Ichi_." The elder guard quickly hushed, "We're not allowed to divulge our real names."

"Right then, what exactly can you tell me about the arena?" Genjo asked crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't expecting any information from the guard at this point but there was never any harm in trying.

"I'm technically not supposed to say anything—"

"Don't tell me you're thinking on spilling what we know!" The younger guard accused moving to the duo. Clearly, he was a bit more uptight about the rules but there was still a sense of naivety Genjo could sense which he knew he would be able to use to his advantage.

"I don't see why not." Ichi shrugged, "I'm just going to tell him about the landscape."

"But you can't!" The other insisted.

"Well, if I remember correctly," Genjo intruded calmly, "The whole point of the B.R. program is to provide an amusement for a bunch of rich-stiffs and as the participants enter the arena, they are already given either an unfair advantage or an unfair disadvantage for entertainment purposes. The chance of an unfair disadvantage is 60% which means I'm most likely going to end up with one; if you guys inform me about a few things I have to expect, then that would neutralise everything. But even then, on the off chance that I do get an unfair advantage, then what you will tell me will just be an added bonus to provide further amusement for the viewers."

Ichi seemed satisfied with Genjo's reasoning and nodded whereas the young-gun was still nervous and reluctant to reveal any secrets. "Before I do that," Ichi started, "I'm going to need to know more about you."

"Why?" Genjo asked coldly.

"Because there are weapons of all types and health packs scattered through the arena," he explained, "And by telling me what you fight best with, I'll be able to give you a location to where the object of your desire lays."

There was a short silence as Genjo accepted that if he wanted to continue living, he would have to tell this stranger a little about himself. "Fine." He sighed and breathed deeply the smoke of the cigarette. "I used to be a soldier for the Japanese army; I fought at the end of the civil war that was caused by the government accepting the B.R. program."

"Interesting," Ichi commented, "Were you for or against the government?"

"I was against the government which is probably another reason to why I'm here…" Genjo Sanzo admitted grimly before continuing. "But once we lost and because I went against the regulations set by the military, I was kicked out and dumped on the street curve. I was homeless for about a year before I turned to religion for sanctuary and became the passive man."

"Looks like that won't be the case for long." Snickered the younger guard who was soon punched by his superior. "Ow!"

"Right, let's go back to your military background," Ichi began, "What exactly did you do?"

"I did a little of everything." Genjo admitted, "However, I did excel in two different things; snipping and crossfire action."

"So a pistol or a rifle doesn't make a difference to you?" Ichi asked earning a nod of affirmation from the priest. "Then I hope you're good in geography or else you're going to have to listen very carefully." Genjo only nodded to demonstrate that he was, in fact, listening and mentally taking in note every bit of information he was given. "First you're going to have to orient yourself, figure out which way is North and which is South. Once you've done that, you'll need to locate a mountain – there's only one in the arena so it should be easy to find. The given mountain is located in the South thus you will need to head South-West to get to an abandoned shack where a sniper rifle is located. The thing is barely standing anymore and half of it has already fallen into the only river within the perimeter so, basically, once you found the river and you know your West from East, you should be fine."

"While we're already spilling some things," the second guard chirped; Genjo knew he would soon break. "There's a health pack located in a giant peach tree North from the shack but it's in a clearing. If you ever find yourself desperate enough, or if you enter by that gate, you should grab it as quickly as you can and get out fast."

Genjo nodded as the bus hit a big bump and suddenly felt a burn on his hand; he cursed and waved it frantically as to have the stinging heat fan away. When he glanced downwards, he noticed that the cigarette hanging from his mouth was mostly ash which was what had fallen on him.

"Haha, well I guess you _are_ nervous." Ichi laughed taking the cigarette from Genjo's mouth and throwing it out an open window. "I'll give you one piece of advice; keep calm and quiet, and don't you dare get distracted or else you'll die for sure."

Genjo smirked emptily, "It almost sounds like you're concerned."

"Look, I don't like the program, maybe not as much as you," Ichi explained quickly, "but no one who's sane wants to see people slaughter each other."

The bus stopped.

"We're here." The other guard stated.

"Time to go." Ichi declared patting Genjo's shoulder as he stood.

Quietly, Genjo followed the armed men out of the bus and followed them into a building where he noticed ten other people sitting and waiting all staring at him. He had been the last one to arrive.

The doors closed with a heavy clang and a voice appeared on the intercom. "Good, Genjo Sanzo has arrived." It said. "Please take a seat next to Lirin Houtou so we may begin the short presentation."

Without protest, the ex-soldier made his way to an empty seat next to a young looking girl with orange hair and tan skin. He noticed that her eyes were rather big, coloured with emeralds and that her cheekbones were high – something that lead him to believe she was a smiley person and would have a grin plastered on her visage if it weren't for the death sentence all but one was about the receive.

"Good." The voice concluded before continuing but then, it interrupted itself again. "No. This isn't right. There are only supposed to be ten participants. Not eleven."

Genjo quickly counted everyone in the room and concluded – just like the person hiding behind the intercom – that there were eleven participants in the room.

"What a foolish mistake. It seems that we will have to get rid of one of you." it informed.

Smiles and the desire to be chosen overtook everyone but Genjo Sanzo who was the only one to understand that an execution was insinuated. The priest had thought to say something – maybe warn the others – but before he could do such a thing, the person over the intercom had already chosen the sacrifice.

"Goodbye Lirin Houtou." It saluted.

None of them had the time to register the fact that the little girl sitting next to Genjo Sanzo had been chosen to die before a sickening shot was heard from nowhere in particular. Genjo looked at Lirin Houtou quickly, his eyes wide with disbelief, as he observe the red dot that appeared on her forehead explode with crimson liquid and the life flicker out of her eyes when her body began to slump over.

"Lirin!" Shouted a man situated further in the front.

"You will stay put." Warned the voice, "If you do not, then you too will follow her in the afterlife."

The man who had so recently stood to run to the dead body slowly began to resume his spot, however the hatred and sorrow in his grey eyes were horribly evident to all whose eyes were trained on him.

"Now that the numbers are all equal, let us begin the presentation." It declared, "As you now all know, you've been chosen to be participants in this year's _Battle Royale program._ In case any of you are unfamiliar with the rules, they go as follow: you will be sent into an arena where you will either be given an unfair advantage or unfair disadvantage. You will be unarmed and need to find weapons, food and healing packs for yourself in order to survive when you're not fighting for your life against other participants. The three previously mentioned things can be found anywhere in the arena, some are well hidden while others aren't; you'll need to look very well because the hidden items can potentially save your life. Besides that, there is no escaping the arena; a tall, cement fence guards the perimeters and if you ever manage to somehow climb over it; we will use the chip lodged into you to locate you and then terminate you."

All were shocked to know that a chip had been installed in their bodies and subconsciously reached to certain areas in their bodies where they thought it might be; Genjo Sanzo reached the back of his head and was rather surprise to feel a slight bump.

"_He's perfectly fine but might wake up with a migraine."_

_So that was when they did it…_ the priest concluded in his mind.

"Besides that, once you get into the arena, there are no rules except you _must_ kill." The voice paused as if it was trying to remember something before speaking again, "One more thing. The duration of the program is, maximum, a week. If, by then, there are still more than three people alive, Hunters will enter the arena and finish off the remaining participants thus resulting with no winner this year. Understood?"

There was silence on the part of the participants thus the voice took it as an offer to continue with the presentation.

Suddenly, a white dot appeared on the wall where all were facing which spread into a large square. "Now we will begin with the analysis." Three pictures of Genjo Sanzo appeared on the white canvas; one was a body shot; the two others were different angles of his face. "Genjo Sanzo – number one. Gender: male. Age: twenty-five. Occupation: Priest. History: Genjo Sanzo used to be a soldier for the Japanese military but, after disobeying orders and fighting against the government, he was kicked out where he turned to religion for sanctuary. He is particularly deadly with a gun."

The picture changed to a young man with creamy brown hair and chocolate coloured eyes. He looked particularly innocent and the body shot showed that he was rather small. "Goku Son – number two. Gender: male. Age: eighteen. Occupation: drop out. History: Perhaps the fact that Goku Son was an orphan contributed to the mischief he caused at school which lead to his drop out. Nevertheless, he has developed a knack for martial arts and is considered a prodigy by all of his masters and is a street fighting legend. If the praises are just, any object seemingly safe can be made particularly dangerous in his hands."

The image changed once more and this time it was a man about the same age as Genjo Sanzo who had long, ruby coloured hair and crimson eyes. Genjo noted that there was a scar beneath his left eye which probably meant he had had his own fair share of fights.

"Sha Gojyo – number three. Gender: male. Age: twenty-four. Occupation: dojo owner. History: Evidently, Sha Gojyo is a well experienced martial artist and his favourite weapon seems to be a sickle. The hypothesized reason for such a taste in an odd weapon would be his connections to the Black Market."

A rather tall man with messy brown hair and a glint of insanity in his eyes then took the spotlight on the diorama. Genjo guessed he was the same age as Sha Gojyo.

"Cho Hakkai – number four. Gender: male. Age: twenty-four. Occupation: medical professor. History: Cho Hakkai used to be the best medical professor at the University of T but, after the suicide of his wife, he went insane and massacred a thousand innocent people in his establishment – three-hundred of which were his own students. We took the liberty of taking him out of his asylum for this special event."

Next was the man who had so recently stood up when Lirin Houtou was assassinated; like her he had tan skin but his hair was red just as his eyes were silver. He had a scar on his left cheek which Genjo recognized as a Yakuza branding.

"Kogaiji Houtou – number five. Gender: male. Age: twenty-three. Occupation: son of Yakuza leader Gyu-maoh. History: Kogaiji Houtou has been around fights and crime all his life thus making him extremely comfortable in this situation. He has a talent for killing with almost anything so he probably won't limit himself to just one weapon during the program. Fun fact: his half-sister, Lirin Houtou, was chosen to be part of the program but, due to a miscalculation, was murdered immediately to make the numbers accurate."

There was tension in the air emitted form Kogaiji Houtou who glared at the screen until the image change to that of a rather tall man with short, spiky black hair and greenish-brown eyes.

"Dokugakuji Sha – number seven. Gender: male. Age: twenty-nine. Occupation: body guard. History: Dokugakuji Gojyo is an experienced fighter what with his occupation however, he prefers fighting with a sword even if he hasn't had much of an opportunity to use it thus far. Plus, not only was he a year away from being too old to participate in the program, his brother Sha Gojyo was also selected; luck is just not on his side."

Genjo Sanzo noticed that they immediately skipped from five to seven which meant that Lirin Houtou was meant to have been number six and wasn't mentioned because she was now dead. The image then changed anew showing the first and only female participant; a woman with long purple hair – clearly dyed – and amber eyes – most likely contact lenses. She had a nice face with soft features, the typical face of a Japanese woman, but there was something about her that forced one to assume she wasn't…normal.

"Yaone _Noname_ – number eight. Gender: female. Age: twenty-two. Occupation: none. History: Yaone Noname was the daughter of a typical pharmacist but, one day, heretic cultists who sacrificed her father and mother invaded their shop. She only spared because the people passing by heard horrible sounds and alerted the police; ever since that day she has barely left her home and, evidently, something has snapped in her pretty little head."

Genjo also noticed that the voice hadn't mentioned any combat skills apparent for the young lady thus would have to be on his guard to the highest point when and if he ever encountered her.

The following photographs were those of a man very similar to Dokugakuji Gojyo in looks; he too had short black hair but his eyes held a natural crimson tint which added to the general aura of ferocity surrounding him.

"Kenren Taishou – number nine. Gender: male. Age: twenty-four. Occupation: rogue soldier. History: Kenren was part of the Japanese militia until, for unknown reasons, he snapped, allegedly killing all of those under his command however this was never proven in court. Like Genjo Sanzo, this one prefers to fight long-range with a gun – normally a pistol."

Genjo immediately recognized the look in the man's eyes; it was those of a trained killer who knew he was doing which explained why he hadn't been proven guilty in court.

The second last profile to be shown was that of a man with long gold-blond hair resembling Genjo however, there were no blood links what so ever.

"Konzen Douji – number ten. Gender: male. Age: twenty-five. Occupation: information broker. History: Konzen Douji used to work as a Japanese soldier until he got greedy and began making money by selling government secrets to criminals – mainly the Yakuza. Of course, this was never proven because his illegal friends always got involved the second he was threatened prison but their saying clearly has no meaning now."

Genjo noticed Konzen Douji scowl quietly from his seat and avert his gaze from the screen basically admitting that whatever the voice said was the truth. _How gutsy…_

Lastly was a man with long mud coloured hair, wearing glasses which caused his jade eyes to sparkle in the three pictures of himself. He was dressed in the official Japanese army's clothes – the ones fit for a General – thus concluding that there was yet another soldier amongst them.

"Tenpou Gensui – number eleven. Gender: male. Age: twenty-four. Occupation: General of the Japanese army. History: Tenpou Gensui, last on the list of participants, was the General of the Japanese army. He was entrusted with many secrets concerning the country which strained his mind thus leading to insanity – nothing too uncommon."

And, with that, the listing and brief review of each profile was done but the voice had one last thing to say before sending off each participant into the arena.

"Before I allow the guards to return in the room and escort you the arena, I would like to thank all of you for participating in this year's _Battle Royale program_." The voice concluded with faked cheeriness. "Are there any questions before we begin the program?"

There was silence and, from the corner of his eye, Genjo noticed the participant Goku Son shyly raise his hand as if he wasn't too sure whether it was the way to proceed since there was no proof they were being watched.

"Yes, participant number two – Goku Son?" the voice permitted.

"U-um… there was a movie that came out not all that long ago…" he began clumsily, fidgeting his hands, "And it was about the _Battle Royale program_… and I was wondering if you guys would do what they did and send packages of food or something floating down with a little parachute or something…"

The voice laughed heartedly, "You amuse me, participant number two – Goku Son. No, we do no such thing. What you have seen is the classic embellishment towards reality that Americans exercise when writing a story or screenplay based off reality."

Genjo noticed Goku frown deeply once his question was answered and, in that instance, he couldn't help but think that the boy resembled very much a monkey.

"Right then, if there aren't any further questions…" the doors opened letting in light to the room that had darkened without anyone noticing and heavily armed guards enter. In pairs of two they walked up to participants and grabbed either side of their arms before dragging them out and towards a vehicle. Behind the cacophony created by the lot who protested, Genjo faintly heard the voice finish what it was saying. "…good luck and kill true."

Genjo was pushed on a vehicle by the two guards; he sat in the middle, quietly to their surprise, and enjoyed the ride – as best as he could – to his designated gate. On the way he lit up another cigarette and breathed it in deeply when a guard suddenly yanked it from his mouth and threw it out of the car.

"You might not want to smoke." He said, "Even if it is faint, the smell will attract or put others aware of your presence."

Genjo hadn't reacted right away, he was too upset by the fact that the guard had had the nerve to literally _rip_ the cigarette from his mouth and _throw_ it out. Without thinking of the inevitable consequences of his actions; Genjo grabbed the guard and threw him out of the car with a growl. "Don't fucking touch my cigarettes, ass hole!"

The second guard grabbed the angry priest's arm as a warning to not repeat that move with him but soon let go once he received a dirty glare. The car never stopped to re-embark the fallen guard – probably because they were on a schedule they had to keep.

Thirty minutes later, the vehicle slowed to a halt in front of a large stone gate. Genjo Sanzo was pushed out of the car and gestured to approach the doors.

"When the doors open, you'll hear a siren marking the beginning of the program." The guard called from the motorised transport. "That's your cue to run and never stop running until you find a weapon, got it?"

"You're not staying to keep an eye on me?" Genjo asked.

"Pff, you have a chip somewhere in your body." The guy declared as the mobile began to move slowly but gradually augmenting in speed. "If you try to run, we'll find you and kill you. As simple as that. Good luck."

Genjo observed the car disappearing in the distance, covered by thick greenery. He sighed and turned his gaze to the large doors of impending hell then lit a cigarette. It was most likely going to be one of the last ones he ever had thus he would enjoy every bit of the lung poisoning since it was now the last of his worries.

_You'll need to locate a mountain – there's only one in the arena so it should be easy to find. The given mountain is located in the South thus you will need to head South-West to get to an abandoned shack where a sniper rifle is located. The thing is barely standing and half of it has already fallen into the only river within the perimeter so, basically, once you found the river and you know your West from East, you should be fine._

_Right_, Genjo thought fishing the lighter from his pocket. _I need to concentrate…_

He brought the artificially made fire to the tip of the cigarette, shielding it from the wind using his hand when the doors suddenly began to creak open heavily with a thunder-like sound. He looked towards the area he would soon call hell just as the siren went off marking the beginning.

"Alright. Here we go."

* * *

_Ichi_ – One (in Japanese)

_Noname_ – no name (she didn't have a last name…)

* * *

**So can anyone tell that I've never watched Saiyuki before and just did a huge wiki-research on the characters? (that's actually a lie, I've watched the three first episodes lol)**

**But anyways, feel free to correct me about my accuracy and things like that because I know I will be off on a few things and the friend I wrote this for - who already read this chapter - is either too nice or too shy to tell me what I did wrong xD**

**Btw, if you're going to critise their occupations or something, I'd like to remind you that this is in a modern AU and since - as far as I'm concerned - the author of Saiyuki hasn't made a furturistic version of the anime or manga where it takes place in our time, I say I'm free to improvise of their jobs and stuff like that xP**

**Anyways, thanks a bunch for reviewing bros, the second chapter will be up in a few seconds xP**

**EDIT: forgot to mention that I know that Konzen, Tenpou and Kenren are technically Genjo, Sha and Cho (not necessarily in that order) but for the sake of having more participants in the B.R. program, let's pretitend they're totally different people because, when you think about it, some of the acted completely different from their 'curent' selves...**


	2. Monkey Boy

**Dunno if I got some hate for last chapter not being accurate or something (because this was posted directly after lol) but this is the second chapter in which we see the 'reactions' (I guess) of most characters and explore the way they act a little, feel free to tell me if I'm off or something xP**

**Anyways, other than that,**

**ENJOY**

* * *

Just as he was told, Genjo Sanzo dashed forth into the arena and began to look pass the canopy to find the mountain but to no vain. All he could see from time to time were the patches of a light blue sky indicating that what he couldn't identify as sun rise or sun set was actually the former. He thought through the situation quickly, never stopping his running course lest it would put him in a bad position.

_I'll need to find high grounds or a clearing to find this mountain…_ he thought desperately searching around with darting eyes. An idea than crossed his mind, he stopped running for a mere moment and stared at the tree branches. _No good. I can't climb them without having them crack beneath my weight…_

Hence he continued to run again, this time basing himself off his instinct. He had been told that when he'd find the river then all he had to do was follow it to the shack – something done easily if he knew his East from West.

* * *

*-_-III-_-*

* * *

Goku was never one to back down from a fight or even shy out from instigating one – but only if his terms were met.

When he arrived to his gate, the guards told him that the cement doors would open and a siren would screech thus announcing the debut of the program and he would have to run until he would find a weapon of some sort to defend himself with. After the doors did open, he was revealed a big plain with miles separating him from the tree line of the forest – something he would need to use as cover. Remembering the words of wisdom, he began to run, heading for the nearest line of trees when something else caught his attention; a giant tree in the middle of an empty plain.

For some reason, the large plant was mesmerizing and enchanted Goku who began to trot in its direction. As he peered closer, small, light pink circles could be spotted beneath the leaves and a taste of sweet peach juice filled the boy's mouth just as a soft flower-like scent invaded his nostrils. Goku had always thought that his ability to recognize food or attribute them to people or objects was reasoned with his love of food and the fact that he was so attuned to their flavour, texture and scent but it was later revealed that he was conditioned with synaesthesia. Still the youngest B.R. participant never saw synaesthesia as a handicap like most people did and, at some point in his youth, had decided that it had become a super power since the condition could help him identify the emotions of those surrounding him once he was able to attribute a specific something to the feeling – like the taste of an avocado meant that whomever he was speaking to was lying or when he tasted strawberries, it meant whomever he was with was happy; so on and so forth.

Now that he thought about it a little more, his condition could warn him if someone was approaching or not thus he would never be surprised – lest he was distracted. Already feeling a little more confident about his odds, Goku finally reached peach tree and happily climbed the thick, curved trunk and sat comfortably on a large branch. He reached towards the green ceiling for the pink fruit that tickled the tip of his fingers and plucked it from its home before sinking his teeth into the soft flesh. The monkey boy shivered in delight as the rich flavour of the fruit's juice filled his mouth and trickled down his chin. He grinned contently and continued to feast, quickly devouring all of the heavenly spheres within reach of his perch before being forced to moved if he wanted to continue to eat.

"Maybe this program isn't so bad after all." Goku chuckled jumping from branch to branch with agility.

However, as he continued to jump around, he accidently grabbed a fragile branch that cracked beneath his weight thus causing him to land face first on the ground. With a groan he sat up, rubbing his sore nose and then peered towards the broken branch. It rather even for something that was snapped off a tree and sort of resembled _Nyoi-Bo_ – his fighting staff – if he excluded the fact that the stick wasn't polished or painted. After a moment's consideration, Goku made up his mind and took the staff in hand; it was his ideal weapon to defend himself if ever needed to – which he most likely would.

He swung it around quickly, examining the weight distribution and was rather satisfied so he climbed the tree again and resumed eating peaches.

The taste of the savoury little ball of sweetness quickly fogged Goku's mind as he continued to feast, so much so that he didn't notice the bitter taste lingering in his mouth marking the arrival of a potential threat.

* * *

*-_-III-_-*

* * *

Finally, Genjo Sanzo reached a clearing south of his gate. It was flat and empty save for a giant tree taking up space in the center. _There's a health pack located in a giant peach tree North from the shack but it's in a clearing. If you ever find yourself desperate enough, or if you enter by that gate, you should grab it as quickly as you can and get out fast._

The priest stared at the tree in consideration, sure everyone was running around looking for a weapon or something useful, he also had no knowledge whether people were actually going to try to kill each other – excluding the ones that were supposedly insane – but there was also the fact that the program had just started. He continued to run the pros and cons in his head before finally shrugging it off with difficulty and dashing towards the tree.

_I'll just get the health pack and go south…_ Genjo told himself as he ventured closer. He soon stopped noticing two silhouettes at the bottom of the tree, his blood froze immediately as did his course of action, _I need to—_

He looked around frantically but there was nowhere he could run to in time to hide without being seen and risking someone trailing however, he also didn't have a weapon to fight with immediately.

_The shack is South of here…_ He looked up quickly and noticed the peak of the mountain. _I'll need to pass by them…if I'm fast enough, there will be a significant distance between us giving me the time to—_

He heard a familiar feminine sounding shriek and saw one of the two figures be propelled quite a distance from the vanquisher. Genjo immediately knew that one of the two silhouettes was Yaone Noname but he had no idea who was the other; one thing was for sure, he was rather strong.

_I have to keep going…_

The priest saw the vanquisher run towards the young woman desperately trying to stand and swing something at her causing her to shriek before landing a blow. He winced at the sound it made.

_No…I can't…I have to go—_

"No!" Yaone screamed from afar. "Help! I need help!"

_I can't…_

"Help!"

_She'll need to die anyway if I want to live…_

"Please!"

_It's better this way…_

"Anyone!"

"Oh god damn it!" Genjo growled dashing towards the fight taking place.

As he got closer, he noticed how Yaone's face was badly beaten and the bruises that covered her body which shocked him but what was worse was finding the one who had done it to her. The little monkey-boy, the youngest participant, was standing over her, a staff-like branch held high above his head ready to swing it down onto the girl's head. What was all the more shocking about Goku was that there was a foreign look in his eyes, one of total rage, hate and insanity – something that wasn't shown in any of the three pictures taken of him for his profile.

"No one's going to hear you!" Goku laughed hysterically, his eye twitching lightly, "You dumb bitch! Die—"

Before he could deliver the _coup de grace_, Genjo delivered a heavy blow to the boy's face sending him flying a few meters away, landing on his side with a heavy oomph. He barely had time to look at Yaone, who was frozen in awe, that Goku had jumped to his feet and retaliated. Genjo was soon showered with a heavy rain of fast thrown punches that he barely had the time to dodge thus forcing him to back away from time to time which, if he didn't stop, would end up with him being pinned to the tree.

"Damn it! I thought you were just some innocent kid!" Genjo cursed and finally retaliated with another heavy blow to the face.

Something about his words seemed to stick into Goku's mind which caused him to regain his sanity for just a moment. He gripped onto Genjo's shirt, staring at him with pleading eyes, "I-I don't want to do this—" but a shudder took over and Goku was as insane as ever.

Confused and unsure what to do, Genjo continued to evade the fast combinations thrown in his direction as he thought of something to do. He always thought he never had a problem with killing mostly because he had taken so many lives when the little _war_ against the program had taken place; however, this seemed to be much different. They had all been thrown in an arena, they barely knew each other and it wasn't like they were fighting for a cause thus Genjo Sanzo had no reason to want to take away their lives – if he excluded the fact that, to survive the program, he would have to be the last one left standing.

Suddenly, he felt something hard against his back and Genjo knew he had reached the tree. Just then Goku's fist came hurling at his face and avoided it just in the nick of time which also allowed him to move away from the compromising position; he also noticed an opening to the back of the boy's head which he took without second thought. The blow was much more powerful then the two others he had given before thus knocked the monkey-boy out immediately.

For the second time that day, Goku fell face first on the ground however, unconscious this time. Genjo panted heavily and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, he was about to leave the peach tree when he remembered the health pack. Yaone Noname was already gone by then hence he had no reason to be in a hurry to evacuate the premises just yet and decided to scout the tree for the health pack.

The health pack hadn't been too difficult to find, it was in the hollow of the tree which probably the home of a small rodent or even an owl. Conveniently, the pack came with a strap thus he slipped it around his left arm and head to have it hang on his back allowing his hands to be free.

Now that the pack was found and settled on his back, Genjo had no further reason to stay put in the given location and decided to head south towards the river. However, he stopped himself as he passed by Goku who still layed unconscious on the ground feeling a pang of guilt and worry.

_He's out cold…_ he thought moving closer. _If I leave him here…others can get to him and kill him…Yaone might even come back to take this as an opportunity…_

He stared quietly for a moment before shaking his head.

_Come on Genjo! Stop being an idiot! The whole point of this is to kill _all_ your opponents! He's one of them!_

But the more he stared at the innocent form of the monkey-like boy, the more he felt guilt and drawn to aid him somehow even if they had battled moments ago. He struggled with his thoughts again all the while staring at Goku before concluding that he was being much too king in the current situation and that it would eventually turn against him. He scooped up Goku in his arms, hauled him over his shoulder and began to trot south-wards towards the tree line.

His main priority was now the shack.

* * *

*-_-III-_-*

* * *

Yaone had taken advantage of the sudden arrival of Genjo Sanzo. Due to the situation, she hadn't been expecting anyone to come to her aid because it was just a stupid idea – then again, Genjo Sanzo _was_ a priest.

She had made it into the forest again and vowed to stay in the cover of the greenery for as long as possible until she found a weapon – a knife maybe – and then she would be ready to fight and kill others. It had been just her luck to be chosen by the government to participate in the B.R. program but when she thought about it, her luck had been in the gutter ever since her parents were murdered before her eyes.

Sudden flashes of that moment took hold of her vision also returning with the ancient feeling of rage, hurt and obsession for vengeance. She stopped running abruptly and held her visage, stabbing her nails in her face, as she groaned and desperately tried to will the memories away but they were too powerful and she was too angry to let them go. Yaone felt them take over her body and cause her to shake horribly as the temporary insanity took over and before she knew it, she wanted to kill everyone – blaming them for her serious misfortune because she wasn't yet able to blame herself.

With a heavy roar she dragged her nails down her face, leaving scratch marks that would eventually disappear if the amount of time necessary was given. Without realising it, that roar had attracted the attention of another contestant passing by in the area. He crept up from behind her and grabbed her long, painted hair, pulling it roughly before stabbing three needles in her neck repeatedly until she fell from his grip – dead – on the ground.

Cho Hakkai stood above the corpse with a sickening grin plastered on his face, with a few drops of blood adding to the horrendous image of his insane self. He chuckled leaning down and examining the wounds he had provoked on his unsuspecting victim.

"Parallel puncture holes the diameter of needles on the right side of the neck," he chuckled passing his fingers over blood swelling from the many holes. "They ripped through her skin and veins but more importantly her windpipe which was quickly filled with blood…final analysis: the victim _drowned_ from the blood filling her lungs."

His fingers suddenly stabbed into the torn flesh creating bigger holes and then he began to repeat the motion until he managed to severe Yaone's head from her body – laughing all the while as if he were a kid playing in a sandbox.

"Oh this is so wonderful…" he chuckled liking the blood from his fingers. "I'm definitely going to have so much fun…"

* * *

**Nine participants remainning**

* * *

**For those who read Battle Royale, yeah, I totally inspired myself from the book when it came to enumerating the remainning amounts of participants xD**

**I wonder if I can actually call them participants since none of them are willing or anything...I mean, they were brutally ripped out of their homes and shoved into an arena...**

**Anyways, tell me what you think and, again, feel free to correct my accuracy!**

**There's one last thing I want to point out about your suggestions to get me have the characters be more like their actual selves, if someone else contradicts what your saying (so like Reviewer A says 'Goku's not whimpy enough' and Reviewer B says 'Goku is wayy too whimpy') then I won't change anything because I technically won't know who's right or not...**

**Anyways (again), I hope you enjoyed this chapter and found yourself to be rather entertained xP**


	3. Half-hearted Alliance

**Whoa! Me? Ignore this story? Pfff! What'cha talkin' about Willis!?**

**Okay...maybe I ignored it a little but I was concentrating on my other stories on my other MAIN account which you will never know *stares***

**Anyways, Danie, I got it out before Christmas! It's a miracle! So merry Christmas, this is your gift U_U**

**But now,**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

After running for about an hour, Genjo Sanzo came across the river the guards had spoken of and noticed the broken, rotten shack partially emerged in the water source. With a sigh of content, he walked towards the place that held a sniper rifle that would most definitely save his life.

Once he entered, he laid Goku gently on the ground, careful not to hit his head again for it was most likely sensitive to contact at the present moment. Judging that the monkey boy was going to be unconscious for quite some supplementary time, he began scavenging the house for the gun he sought.

The shack was basically divided in five sections, the first one was the main entrance, where one would respectfully place their shoes as to not dirty the rest of the building; the second was the sleeping area – as Genjo referred to it – where people probably slept in groups or simply relaxed; the third was the storage where hunters would stack up their equipment or canned food; the fourth was a washroom; and finally, the last room was a kitchenette or an eating area where the floor was composed of ceramic tiles on which laid few counters, a stove and a microwave. And this was all apparent to Genjo because most of the walls had fallen – same went for the roof – thus all he really had to do to see was stand on the tip of his toes and stretch out his neck.

Clapping his hands together, Genjo began to search. The most logical place to begin was in the storage and fish through the boxes and few hunter bags that remained. He entered the room and quickly opened everything that could have held objects finding only two things of value: a fishing rod – which he kept just in case there would be fish in the river – and various collections of bullet but none for sniper rifles.

Moving out of the room seeing as the weapon he desired was not seemingly present; he moved the sleeping area looking under the abandoned kotatsu and torn carpet for a trap door which was not there and then behind the foul furniture that was now home to a hoard of spiders. Brushing off the pests that had hastily crawled up his sleeve, Genjo sighed scanning the rest of the room for the rifle.

Since he was unable to spot another place where the thing could have been hiding, he moved on to the kitchenette, browsing through the cabinets and even looking in the microwave just in case something were to be hidden there. Finding nothing but more bugs and spiders, Genjo found himself at another loss and thus headed towards the last room where the weapon could potentially be hiding.

When he walked into the washroom he noticed that he room was filled with water from the river and – with the brief light that managed to pierce the canopy – he could see the large holes in the rotten planks that allowed the water to invade the shack. Stepping careful as not to trip, the priest entered the mossy area and searched through the lone cabinet that hung over a mirror only to find a bottle of aspirins and nothing more. He turned on himself, scanning at the part submerged in the freezing water, noticing a faint glint – possible of hope. Feeling rather confident about hid find, Genjo – without hesitating – jumped in the water which climbed all the way to his knees and ventured towards the twinkling of a metallic object. He plunged his hand beneath the surface and grabbed the handle that fitted perfectly in his palm but when he pulled it out, he saw it was just a shower head.

Angrily, he threw it back in and stomped out of the cold water and headed back to where Goku still laid sleeping. _Those bastards lied to me!_ He growled inwardly, _There's no sniper rifle here! There's _nothing_ here at all!_

And with the anger that overtook his body and the control he once had over it, Genjo stomped the ground with all his might, passing through the weak timber floor. Surprised by the poor strength of the planks, Genjo pulled himself out and examined his leg for any injuries. All he had found were scratches and small gashes created by the little pieces of lumber that had stabbed through his flesh in that instant. Other than that, Genjo was fine and since the wounds were so minor in his eyes, he found no reason to waste the precious medical supplies in fixing a few scrapes.

The priest then peered in the hole to see what plant life, insects or animals he had crushed so suddenly when he noticed the unmistakable tip of a gun – a sniper rifle. He got on all fours and leaned towards the hole, dipping his arm in the opening and hurriedly grabbed the weapon which he pulled out in a moment's notice to caress in his hands.

This thing was going to save his life.

Genjo, being an ex-soldier who excelled in the use of snipers and pistols, thus began to inspect the weapon he had so recently found. He fist checked the bullet chamber and was rather upset to find it empty and, after a quick peak in the hole where the sniper riffle had been hiding, he was completely livid to find no bullets to go with it. The guards hadn't lied to him, but whether they knew the gun was empty or not was most likely going to remain a mystery forever.

With a groan, he dropped to the floor and hit his head against the wall in disappointment, _Well, maybe I can scare them with this…_ He thought but then he thought about who the other participants were, their occupations and their mental states. _Pff. Doubt it. The soldiers will know it's unarmed and the insane ones won't care…_

His gaze moved to Goku who was still unconscious in the position Genjo had left him when he investigated the house. _He seems foolish enough to believe that there's real danger where there truly isn't…_

And so, without any fitting bullets or further goal, Genjo Sanzo stayed in his current position, staring across at the monkey-like boy, contemplating what he should do. He didn't want to fight or kill any other participant; he was supposed to be a man of peace but it seemed as though God was not without a sense of humour. But more than being a man of peace, Genjo simply had no _reason_ – at the exception of sparing his own – to want to take away any of their lives. He had not been challenged, tasked, paid or had any personal reasons to kill any of them thus there was a huge lack in motivation when there shouldn't have been when considering the situation.

_And then there's this kid…_ Genjo thought examining Goku.

What sour luck the boy must have had to end up, at such a young age, in the _Battle Royale program_; nonetheless, he wasn't the youngest to ever participate. Since the beginning of the program in the world, the youngest participant had been a thirteen year old girl from the German _Battle Royale program_. Contrary to popular belief based off logic, this girl was in the top three remaining contestants but did not win; said thing was completely normal mostly because she descended from a family of cutthroats but that's just unimportant to the story at hand.

Nevertheless, Genjo Sanzo couldn't help but pity Goku in his current position because, in his opinion, even if the youth had committed horrid crimes or was simply one of the worst juvenile delinquents of Japan, he didn't deserve it. No one did, but it was for the younger ones because they had experienced so little of the world; granted Genjo Sanzo wasn't all that old himself but he had matured quickly because of war and injustice.

Suddenly, a faint groan passing Goku's lips inspired Genjo's attention, drawing him out of his train of thought. When he noticed the monkey boy's eyes twitch before fluttering open, he stood and readied the unloaded gun to his face, just in case he would attempt to be hostile like the last time.

The boy's eyes widened slowly and he began to tremble ever so lightly as his gaze shifted from the barrel of the gun to the man holding it. "Do I need to worry about you?" Genjo asked slowly.

Goku seemed to react bizarrely to the question for he relaxed immediately but it was because his synesthesia told him that the blond priest was no threat and there was no need to worry. In fact, he learned that Genjo's feelings towards the Battle Royale program were the exact same as his; he didn't want to fight either.

"No." Goku answered wobbly standing to his feet. He looked at the gun and then the man holding it, "There's nothing in it, is there?"

What with Genjo's ever so subtle reaction and Goku's synesthesia, the latter knew it was, in fact, empty. "It's okay." Goku mumbled, "I don't mind fighting, but I don't want to kill anyone…not unless I have a good reason to…"

The sincerity in the boy's voice was palpable which caused the armed priest to lower his weapon. "That's very noble of you." He said, "But the other ones here won't give a damn about your humility. They'll kill you before you have the chance to utter a sound."

And with that, Genjo lifted the empty onto his shoulder and made his way out of the broken house. Goku, confused by the other's departure and perplexed about his next course of action, mindlessly followed Genjo. "Where are you going..?" he asked.

"I need to find ammo and—" Genjo Sanzo interrupted himself abruptly. "Why am I telling you this!?"

Goku grinned, "'Cause I'm adorable and you can't bear the thought of leaving me behind?"

"Yeah right," Genjo sneered, "Get out of here, monkey. You're better off on your own."

"What? I don't believe that!" Goku protested running to the blond man's side, "With a partner, you have someone to watch your back and fight by your side. So if you get in a twist, I can help out!"

"Not in this type of game." Genjo retorted speeding up.

"Don't call it that! It's not a game!" Goku protested, jogging to keep up with the man, "It's just savagery at its core! If you start thinking of it as a game, then they'll start to assume that what they're doing is okay."

"Look, kid." Genjo stopped walking and raised his voice viciously, "I'm not interested in a partner, I won't carry any more weight on my shoulders and there's no way I'm going to get attached to you."

"What? Why not?"

Genjo savagely gripped Goku by the shirt, yanking him off the ground for a moment, "Because, by the end of this, I'm going to have to kill you if I want to live!" he hissed before roughly shoving Goku away. "Now get out of here!"

Goku frowned and pouted before chasing after Genjo again who had ventured into the garden of the shack. "I won't be a burden! I promise!" Goku persisted, "And just don't get attached to me! Plus, you're a man of honour right? So when we'll be the only two left, we'll have a fair battle that will determine the outcome of the program. How about that?"

"How about you leave?"

"How about no." Goku smiled.

"I could kill you right now, you know?" Genjo stated darkly.

"But you won't. I can tell." The monkey boy replied, his smile widening.

Seeing that there was going to be no outcome in which he would be able to leave without Goku; Genjo sighed, admitting defeat. "What's your name again, kid?"

"Goku." Goku answered cheerfully.

"What are you good for Goku?"

"Uhh—" his attention swayed. "Food!"

"Hey don't ignore me—"

But Genjo's shouting was lost in Goku's frantic cheering at the sight of many plants bearing edible vegetables and fruits. With another heavy sigh, the priest just decided to quiet down and venture into the broken garden, looking for certain things that would last them a while. All he could find were strawberries, sweet potatoes, watermelons, eggplants, lettuce and onions.

Genjo Sanzo crouched down and plucked an onion from the ground, inspecting it carefully and brushing the dirt from its cover. The vegetable had grown far too big for the flavours to prevail but it wasn't like he would have the time or tools to make decent food. He threw it back on the ground deciding that they would only take everything that was light and flavourful but, as he soon found out, Goku had different ideas.

"Why did you throw that onion!?" He cried jumping over to it. "Have you no shame!? It's food!"

"Don't be an idiot," Genjo snapped, "An onion is useless if you don't have anything to put with it. No one eats—"

The blond priest was suddenly interrupted by Goku taking a huge bite out of the fruit and swallowing it eagerly. "I know it's a vegetable," he said as he took another bite, "But it's still food and it's better than nothing."

Without being able to resist, Genjo smacked his fist down on Goku's head, "What the hell is wrong with you!? No one eats an onion raw!"

"Well I do!"

The two continued bickering loudly which travelled through the forest and to the ears of a bloodthirsty competitor that lurked in the darkness of the woods not too far away. Quietly, he approached the duo as a wolf would approach his prey. Quietly he watched them rip things from the bushes and the ground on the opposite side of the river and listened to every single word they shared amongst themselves.

"Come on." Genjo said once the bag in which he carried the medical supplies was filled to the brim with savory fruits and vegetables. "We have to leave. We've stayed here for too long."

"No!" Goku protested, "Not without the onions!"

The monkey boy quickly dashed over to the area in which onions dwelled in the ground and began to rip them out savagely, scooping them up in his arms.

"You stupid monkey!" Genjo barked, "Those onions are going to slow us down!"

"No they won't!" Goku persisted, "I'll just eat them along the way and eventually there'll be none left."

"You're—" Genjo growled and rolled his eyes, "Fine. Let's just go before someone gets here. You were making so much noise I bet _someone_ heard—"

"Someone is right." A voice coming from the opposite end of the river declared with a sinister cackle. "And someone doesn't want you to leave…"

Stepping from the shadows of the trees and towards the riverbank was a blood caked Cho Hakkai with a look of insanity dwelling in his eyes.

"Fuck!" Genjo cursed backing away instinctively.

"Which one is he…?" Goku asked immediately looking at the older man for reassurance. "A soldier or one of the insane ones?"

"He's that doctor…" Genjo whispered beneath his breath, "The one that killed thousands of students at his university after the suicide of his wife."

"So one of the insane ones…" Goku concluded, "What do we do?"

"We run!" He shouted grabbing the monkey boy by the arm and dragging him away.

"Oh I like this game!" Cho laughed horribly as he ran through the river at an amazing speed and caught up to his fleeing prey. "But I'm afraid you must stay!"

He managed to grab the both of them by the back of their shirts and throw them back in the garden. "My onions!" Goku cried as they scattered across the garden.

"Goku we have something more important to worry about!" Genjo snapped jumping back to his feet just in time to block a blow to his face. He peered quickly at the fist and noticed needles lodged in between the man's fingers. "Needles…?"

Cho jumped back a step and smirked horribly, "But of course." He cackled before jumping right back to Genjo Sanzo and unleashing a chain of very rapid attacks.

Each blow was blocked but unbalanced Genjo with the amount of strength put in them thus causing him to back up. Finally, he found an opening and kicked Cho square in the stomach sending him flying back a few feet. By the time the insane doctor got to his feet, Genjo pointed the gun at him, deciding he would attempt a bluff.

"Look, I don't want to fight…" he said slowly, "You can leave now with your life but if you don't, I'll have to shoot."

Cho Hakkai trembled lightly for a few moments then he cracked a crooked smile and began laughing uncontrollably. "Foolish fool! Death is inevitable!"

Just as the insane doctor lunged for Genjo anew, Goku interrupted the course of the action by delivering a heavy blow to Hakkai's head with a wrotten piece of wood that had once served as a piece of fence. The object crumbled in his hands which caused him to curse, "Damn it! I need something more solid! Like a pipe!"

"Forget about that!" Genjo growled grabbing the boy once again, "We need to get out of here. Who knows how long that bastard will stay unconscious…"

"Where should we go?" Goku asked.

"Not towards the mountain it's too dangerous and who knows got the same idea as we did…" Genjo rationalised aloud, "Let's just follow the river for now, downstream, and work on getting some distance."

"Right." The boy nodded affirmatively.

"That also means no talking." The blond priest pointed out before they left.

"Okay…"

And with that, the two dashed away, following the river; only Goku dared to peak back at the garden where they had abandoned his onions. He sighed wearily and concentrated on following the older man who was slowly creating a gap between them what with his speed. Thus Goku doubled his efforts and concentrated on keeping a steady eye on Genjo's back as they travelled through the forestry.

After running for two more hours and arriving at a small bridge, the two stopped to take a break and eat a little food. Genjo struggled in convincing Goku to only have the strict minimum as to rationalise their food, and with a grumpy-like attitude, Goku agreed. It was as they were munching on a handful of strawberries when they heard a gunshot echo through the air.

"Where did that come from…?" Goku muttered eyeing their surroundings.

"Somewhere North-West." Genjo guessed, "But I don't know how far…we should get moving."

"Wait!" Goku said stuffing the berries in his mouth. "Didn't that guy-voice-thing say that there were weapons stashed everywhere and that we had to look to find them?"

"Well yes but—"

"Maybe there's on the bridge!" he concluded. "Let's look real quick."

Without waiting for Genjo's say-so, Goku jumped off the wooden passage, landing in the water with a heavy splash and searched beneath. In the meanwhile, Genjo looked through the railing to see if something had been tied to it but found nothing.

"Hey! I found a box!" Goku called from bellow.

"Really?" Genjo asked surprised, "Bring it up."

The monkey boy allowed the faint current to guide him away from the bridge before he climbed up by the side, tossing the box onto the dry wooden floor. He stayed perched on the railing as Genjo scrutinized the box and cleared it from some tape that persistently stuck onto it. Then he opened the box and pulled out a note.

"There's nothing in here except for this." He growled before reading it. "_Look beneath, stupid._"

"Hun?" Goku asked cocking his head to the side, "What does that mean…?"

There was a brief second of silence before Genjo understood. He casually walked over to Goku and smiled kindly before pushing him off the railing, having him fall in the river.

"Ow!" Goku cried, "What the hell was that for!? Something hurt my butt!"

"The note said to look beneath," Genjo stated, leaning on the railing, "Hurry up and look under the bridge so we can leave."

The boy pouted, sending a nasty glare to the priest but did as he was told. He patted the ground, searching for anything and just as he was about to give up, he felt something metallic graze his fingers. "Oh! I found something!"

Again, he pulled out a box, this one made of metal, and tossed it over to Genjo. The latter opened it easily, finding another note but twelve other smaller cardboard boxes. "_Good job_." He read with a smirk.

"What is it?" Goku asked, "Can I come up or are you going to push me back down?"

"You can come up." Genjo smirked, "And we found twelve cases of bullets."

"Sweet!" the boy chimed climbing the railing, "Now you can load the gun!"

"Not quite." The priest sighed as he began walking northward, "These are handgun bullets."

* * *

**Nine participants remainning**

* * *

**Whoaaaaaaaaaaa!**

**I wasn't sure whether I was actually going to kill Hakkai then and there but I decided that he could be useful later on...**

**Jesus, playing God (see what I did there?) is exhausting but fun :D I love being able to control the fate of those in my stories xD**

**I'm considering making this same type of story with a different anime on my MAIN account but I don't know yet...I think I'll finish this one first and think about it later or something xD**

**Hmmm I think I was supposed to make someone die in every chapter...I don't think I'm doing that anymore xD whatevz, more chapters for you guys xD**

**SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER!**


	4. Distant Shot

**So Danie was no help whatsoever this chapter U_U (mostly because I lost cell phone reception at some point durring the car ride so there wasnt much either of us could do about it lol)**

**I feel so ashamed! I feel like the characters are so OOC here! If they are please tell me!**

* * *

EDIT:** So I corrected a few things to make the characters a little more accurate but I also decided not to change a few things just for the sake of realism. I'll specify what I meant down bellow! SEE YA!**

* * *

**Now, ENJOY!**

* * *

Kogaiji Houtou cursed his rotten luck. He had been taken away from his home by force alongside his half-sister to join in the _Battle Royale program_, after arriving at the arena and having the rules explained to them, Lirin had been executed on the spot for there had been a participant too many, and now, not only was he unarmed and stuck in a marsh but he was also incredibly exposed. The Yakuza had never anticipated to be chosen at any point in his life for the program mainly because his father was a man with great power and to be feared but, as the anonymous voice explained, that was all irrelevant in the given circumstance.

"Damn it." He cursed as he pulled himself from the mucky water.

Exhausted even if the program began, roughly, two hours ago, Kogaiji dropped himself on a hill with a lone dead tree. He used said deceased plant to lean on as he relaxed and regained the energy he had uselessly wasted on travelling the damp, muddy, smelly area.

"The smell…"

It finally occurred to Kogaiji that the swamp smelled utterly horrible due to his mind being occupied by more troubling things. Now that he was aware of the atrocious scent, he realised how worse of an advantage he was at against others; the odour would definitely stick to his clothing thus, once he would find his way out, the wind would carry it in any direction warning potential threats of his general whereabouts.

"Fuck." The Yakuza cursed again burying his face in his hands. "How the hell do I do this…?"

Taking a deep breath, Kogaiji calmed down and began to think rationally; he had been around battles, conflict and betrayal all his life, he was the son of a Yakuza – and not just any Yakuza – thus he would find a way to prevail.

_First, a weapon_.

The anonymous informer had told them all that weapons were stashed everywhere in the arena, some well hidden while others weren't, and that they would have to look in order to find them. As he thought about the statement some more, the realisation that there was a good chance of the dead tree holding anything of value came to mind. Using it as support, Kougaiji got to his feet, pressed an ear against the trunk, and then knocked on it softly. It was as he assumed, the tree was hollow but as he investigated the late tree, he noticed that there was no hole in which anything could have been slipped in.

Just as he was about to move on and conclude that he had been thinking hopefully, he decided to break down the tree with a powerful kick just in case there indeed was something in there. He couldn't afford to take chances in the given situation.

His foot easily passed through the bark and into the empty center of the tree, he pulled it out then proceeded to make a bigger hole to see by ripping off cracked parts of the trunk. A smile stretched on his face as he made out a white bag-like object which turned out to be a health pack. The thing had straps thus he could slip it on his shoulders and not have to deal with the burden of having a hand less to use. However, the only two downsides to the health pack were that it wasn't a weapon and it wasn't camouflaged but the last thing could be fixed easily.

Just as Kogaiji was about to pick up the smelly mud to use it to paint his health pack, he decided against it and figured that the disgusting scent would only stick to him longer if he did so. No, the best course of action was to get out of the swamp and then find normal mud to cover the pack with. Confident with his strategy and not feeling quite as glum as before, the Yakuza slipped the pack on his back and continued his way through the swamp scanning the area for a weapon.

Three hours later, Kogaiji finally found his way out of the damp ground and decided he would rest again before venturing into the dense forestry. He leaned against a tree again, not bothering to sit this time, and watched the marsh one last time. It was as he scanned the horizon that he noticed a distant silhouette move in his general direction. He squinted his eyes to make sure that whatever he was seeing wasn't a figment of his imagination.

Suddenly, a sharp object came hurling in his direction and the Yakuza barely had the time to dodge an otherwise lethal blow that, luckily, on grazed his cheek. Still, blood trickled from the small cut which annoyed the man dearly. Never, in the past ten years, had he ever been wounded or received a blow in any battle he had fought.

All he wanted to do now was charge his attacker and end him on the spot but, but his opponent was clearly armed whereas he wasn't thus, it would have been unwise to do so. Reluctantly, Kogaiji turned his heels and made for the woods but not before glancing at the tree trunk in which an arrow was lodged. He turned back to the silhouette that was charging in his direction and noticed another arrow headed his way. Kogaiji dodged again and came to the conclusion that, whoever was attacking him, had a crossbow.

Angered but vowing to find the man in order to kill him, he fled in the forest to find a weapon but also lose his assailant. While he had been travelling the bog, Kogaiji noticed a mountain peak to the south and, deciding it was unsafe, began to travel north hoping to find a water source with which to clean himself from the scent or shelter where a weapon could be hidden.

However Kougaiji couldn't help himself from feeling shameful. It wasn't his style to just runaway from a battle without putting up some level of resistance so he stopped running and considered his options. He had little time to make a decision.

*-_-III-_-*

Sha Gojyo, who had been having more luck with the program than Kogaiji Houtou despite the fact that he had to descend a plateau, had found two weapons in a time span of two hours. The first had been a handgun and the other had been a crossbow. They were both weapons he didn't necessarily like since he wasn't the best when it came to aim but it was something he would have to make do with until he found a sickle or a sickle-like weapon.

After an hour of travelling the forest he stumbled into a bog. It was a smelly bog with few hills and contained a fair share of dead trees and it was while Gojyo was inspecting the horizon that he noticed a silhouette travelling. It didn't seem to be moving in his general direction or to have spotted him thus he hid immediately and kept an eye on it. He could scarcely make out the head from the rest of the body, let alone the face, due to the large distance that separated the both of them.

Unsure if he should fear the opponent or not, he decided it would be best to follow him or her to wherever they were headed to, keeping the original distance between he and them. Thus, for an hour, he stalked his potential prey until it stopped at the border of the marsh to rest – though Gojyo had feared he had been spotted for a moment. During the few minutes that followed the silhouette's pause, Gojyo decided it would be then that he would have to decide what to do; he had two long-range weapons, one of which made an explosive sound if used, the other who was rather silent but not as deadly as the former.

In the end, if Sha Gojyo ever wanted to return to civilisation and continue with his life, the ten other participants would have to die and he knew he would at least have to kill one of them. Hence, he came to the decision rather quickly and decided he would hunt down the participant he spotted so early in the program and kill him or her.

_But wasn't there only one girl…? _Sha questioned in his mind, _The chances of that being her are pretty low…_

Brushing away the thought that had temporarily distracted him, Sha Gojyo stealthily ventured towards the silhouette, trying his best to stay undetected which ended up failing quickly enough. The prey had noticed him but didn't seem whether or not Gojyo was a friend or foe, and the latter, taking that into consideration, took the opportunity to load the crossbow with the arrows he had found with it and fire a shot. Aside from a loud snap once the thing launched the arrow and a sharp but faint whistling in the air, the weapon had been rather silent and the shot seemed direct as well.

For a moment, Sha Gojyo had been convinced he had managed to land a one-shot kill but the prey dodged at the last second. Quickly, Gojyo loaded another arrow and shot it as well while running towards his prey lest he decided to make a run for it. The prey stood for a moment, rapidly assessing what had just happened and which weapon had been used to attempt to take away his life before dashing in the forest.

"Shit!"

Sha Gojyo doubled his speed but he knew that the prey would continue running and would lose him quick enough in the forest. It wasn't like he was a hunter so there was no way he could easily find him again.

By the time he reached the location to where the prey had stood to rest before hand, all that was left was the arrow he fired that landed into the tree. The other was nowhere to be found among the many twigs resembling it laying on the floor.

"Well damn." Gojyo sighed scratching the back of his head. "I lost him."

He tilted his eyes upwards and scanned the forest, he tried listening carefully for steps in the distance but his efforts were without fruit. Seeing no other option than to venture in the woods as well, he took a step and froze immediately. A hand landed on his shoulder, gripping it tightly and he could feel someone's breath tickling the back of his neck.

"You lost something?" the man hissed.

Sha Gojyo barely had time to turn around to see Kogaiji Houtou, enraged, before the arrow he had lost was stabbed into his neck with a violent force. He fell on the ground, clutching his bloody throat and desperately tried to breath what with the blood invading his lungs, and before he could even attempt to retaliate, Kogaiji had jumped on top of him and begun stabbing him in the neck anew.

It had taken several more stabs to the neck before Sha Gojyo's body went limp and his eyes flickered of all sense of life. Kogaiji then stopped to breathe and stare at what he had just done. His opponent's neck had been completely mutilated and some of the blood and splashed onto his face, something he didn't mind at the moment. Slowly, he stood and examined the body quickly noticing the crossbow with the arrows and then what seemed to be the butt of the gun hanging out of the deceased's pocket.

Without remorse or hesitation, the Yakuza scavenged the body and studied the weapons which brought a smile to his face. The gun he had found was loaded, containing eight bullets to use wisely and the crossbow, which was used to attack him, was still in perfect condition with twelve more arrows to shoot with.

Content and feeling that his luck had finally turned; Kogaiji resumed his course to the Northern part of the arena calmly. He didn't feel the need to run anymore but more that of remaining quiet in order to not bringing in the attention of other participants. He had been the hunted and now he would become the hunter.

_I found two weapons_, Kogaiji thought, _I also have a health pack. All I really need now is some food to eat and also some mud to camouflage the bag_.

*-_-III-_-*

An hour passed before Kogaiji started to notice a variation of colour among the thick green. At first he had been weary and thought it to be an opponent – a threat – but he soon concluded it was a building. A temple, really, with red bricks and yellow roofing; the general style of the sanctuary was Chinese something Kogaiji recognized easily from his many trips to the main land country.

Wearily, with his crossbow loaded and his gun placed perfectly if he needed to use it rapidly, he ventured forth. There was definitely something incredibly important in that establishment that would evidently be of great use to Kougaiji – perhaps there was also food, the Yakuza was starting to feel hungry. As a result, he proceeded to enter the temple by the front gates coming up on a statue of Buddha. It was the fat Buddha, the one with a jolly look on his face and big earlobes; he was gripping a gourd marked with the Chinese letters for _wine_ and his free hand formed a sign expressing wise judgement. This, Kogaiji knew, meant for one to be humble with the quantity he or she ate and to never be gluttonous.

Immediately, Kogaiji climbed the statue which resonated upon his contact with it and began searching it for an opening. It was made of metal which meant that they had to cut something open to place whatever it was – most likely food if the Yakuza based himself off the open hint that was the statue. Fast enough, he found hinges on the back of the Buddha's neck thus he lifted the head and jumped in the empty inside. He almost felt bad for defiling a religious statue but he reminded himself of his current situation and the guilt went away immediately.

Hidden in the hollow area where the jolly fat man's foot was, Kogaiji fount a basket. He picked it up, noticing a note and read it with difficulty what with the scarce light he had access to; it read:

_Wow, good job, enjoy your reward. Either you were pretty smart to understand the hint or you were lucky to find this. Either way, do enjoy and, may we suggest that you stay here to eat your meal? It is safe and unless someone is as smart or lucky as you, you have nothing to fear._

Kogaiji grinned and took a seat before he eagerly opened the basket only to find a bottle of wine and a sandwich. This technically wasn't his favourite combination, he would have been more happy with more Japanese food, but he wasn't much in a situation to complain so the Yakuza quickly devoured the sub and took two gulps of wine. He didn't dare take more for fear of accidently getting intoxicated and thus killed by being so careless.

Kogaiji then crawled out of the Buddha head and jumped back on the polished floor of the temple. He decided it would be best to continue scavenging just in case he found a weapon that was much more useful than what he had. He would search for bullets and perhaps a silencer since he assumed there had to be one somewhere.

First, he searched the remainder of the first floor, finding an empty storage room, a praying room and a room filled with more religious statues none of which hid anything. Then he searched the second floor which contained a large meditation room, a living room also containing religious statues and nothing more. The third floor was just one big meditation room with windows on every wall. Finally, the fourth floor was a sacred room in which was kept a religious artefact that deemed the sanctuary fit to be called a sanctuary. In the center of the room was a staff, perfectly polished and well decorated that practically sparkled with religious importance.

Seeing as he had already defiled most of the temple, Kogaiji decided it would be best to leave the staff where he had found it.

The Yakuza retraced his steps and it was half-way down the second floor that the presence of another made itself known to him. He immediately readied his crossbow and ventured down the stairs as silently as possible, careful to distribute his weight equally with every stride as to avoid the planks to creak beneath his feet. However, unluckily for him, he came face to face with another participant of the program.

Both reacted quickly, Kogaiji fired the arrow from his crossbow and the other quickly shoved the weapon aside in order to avoid the lethal shot. Swiftly, the stranger tackled Kogaiji but the Yakuza was still able to kick him off. Seeing that he wouldn't have the time to reload another arrow, Kogaiji climbed back up the stairs to create some distance and pulled out his gun. He shot hastily but missed the other who had dodged.

Without thinking, the Yakuza jumped down the stairs in pursuit of his opponent who had expertly disappeared in a matter of moments. "Fu—"

"Wait!"

The voice came from behind and Kogaiji simply had no time to pivot for he was pinned to the ground by his opponent who held on tightly to both of his wrists. Kogaiji scowled at his position; it was just so weak and submissive he hated it, he was unable to see his assailant's face nor look him in the eyes when he deliver the final blow.

"Can—"

"Just do it!" Kogaiji interrupted abruptly, shivering lightly at the breath tickling his ear. "Don't tease me just do it! Kill me!"

"Uhh…I just wanted to talk." The stranger admitted sheepishly. Abruptly but rapidly, he changed Kogaiji's position as to be able to look at him in the face; his wrists, however, were still pinned above his head. "Your sister was in this mess too wasn't she?"

Kogaiji glared fiercely. "What's it to you?" he hissed.

"Well my brother was in this mess too." The man explained, "Remember? His name is Sha Gojyo. We don't really look alike but he's still family, I want to know if you saw him."

Kogaiji froze, how would this man react if he knew he had killed his little brother?

"No." Kogaiji lied quietly, "I didn't see him."

There was a moment of silence shared among the two in which Kogaiji held his breathe until the other spoke.

"Then I don't know what to do." The other admitted with a airy laugh. "I'm not sure I want to let you go because you might try to shoot me with your gun…then again, this position is rather awkward."

Kogaiji just glared at the man and his odd remark. He had nothing to say because the man's guess of the outcome of setting him free were rather straight on. "So what should I do?"

"…Why are you asking me?" Kogaiji asked after a moment.

"Because I don't know what to do." The man rationalised. "I need a fresh perspective."

"I understand that but it's pretty stupid in this circumstance to ask someone else for advice," Kogaiji schooled, "They're most likely going to tell you something that could end up killing you."

"Perhaps…"

"You don't have a criminal record, do you?" Kogaiji asked.

"No, sir, none." He confirmed with a proud smile, "I'd like to say I'm as good as they come but I have done my share of wrong-doing. The proof is the way my little brother turned out – I really regret that."

The stranger was awfully chatty and it didn't take much for the Yakuza to realise he had no malevolent intensions. And the more things continued, the more Kogaiji realised it was something he could turn to his advantage. At first he thought of just telling the stranger something to get himself killed but then he decided it would be more productive and wise strategically to keep the participant alive and use him. Yes, he would create an alliance in which he would command, together they would kill the others that stood in their way and then, when the other wouldn't be expecting anything, Kogaiji would wipe him out. The latter did seem to be rather dense.

"What's your name?" the Yakuza asked.

"Oh," the taller man exclaimed, flustered, "I'm sorry, I assumed you remembered my name from the listing. My name is Dokugakuji Sha, and you're Kogaiji Houtou."

"You remember my name?" he asked raising an eyebrow; perhaps it wasn't all that surprising since the other did remember that he had a sister.

Had.

Dokugakuji blushed lightly and turned his gaze away, "Of course," he admitted, "When I first saw you, I thought you were beautiful. If the circumstances would have been different, I would have asked you out – maybe."

Now the Yakuza became incredibly flustered, "Why are you saying that?" he stammered, Kogaiji now understood why their current position was awkward.

"I figure the chances I live through this are really small," Dokugakuji explained, "So I thought that there was no more place for regret or shyness. If there's something I wanted to say, I would say it and that was one of them."

Now Kogaiji felt completely disoriented and wasn't sure whether he truly wanted an alliance with the man – even if it was to use him. Then again, what Dokugakuji said held a lot of truth; as much as he didn't want to admit to it, Kogaiji had just as little chance as the other to get out of the program alive thus there was no room for regret or shyness anymore.

"Dokugakuji." Kogaiji began doing his best to forget what the former had just confessed, "Would you want to join in an alliance with me?"

Dokugakuji blinked. "A-are you serious?" he stuttered, "This isn't something to get me killed is it?"

_Yes_. "If it was do you think I would tell you?" Kogaiji asked unimpressed.

"Good point." Dokugakuji granted. "How can I believe you?"

Kogaiji considered the question for a moment, "Grab the gun." He ordered. "I'll handle the crossbow, you can have the gun."

Dokugakuji nodded and did as he was told. He released the Yakuza and reached for the gun that had been dropped not too far away then he stood, offering his hand to Kogaiji to help him up. The latter took it without thinking much and, before he knew it, was pulled into a kiss.

His eyes widened dramatically and Kogaiji quickly pushed the taller male away. "What the hell are you doing!?" He scowled darkly.

Dokugakuji smiled faintly, "No more room for regret, remember?"

* * *

**8 participants remaining.**

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**IN MY DEFENSE KOGAIJI ISNT ACTING LIKE A WHIMP! HES ACTING STRATEGICALLY! HES BEING SMART! (thats all I can say to make myself feel better lol)  
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**I wasnt sure whether I was going to add a new pairing in this story (You: LE GASP! THERE WERE GOING TO BE PAIRINGS!?) but then I really wanted to put them in so I did xD I think thats the limit of that though lol  
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**Anyways, some of you MAY wonder WHY I brought in different character perspectives and thats because I kinda wanted to follow Battle Royales written style because thats what the author did. His main characters were obviously uhhh...that guy and girl and Shogo (the only name I remember because I loved that character lol) but he also wrote about the perspective of the other participants because they were doing stuff at the same time too. I mean, its not like time stops for them if the main characters are around xD Besides, this is called Saiyuki Royale, not Genjo and Goku Royale lol  
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**But if you missed them, theyll be back next chapter xP  
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**Ummm...so feel free to rip on me for making the characters OOC (hopefully I didnt so I can get a high five out of this) but be gentle ;P**

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EDIT:** So earlier I talked about things I didn't change for the sake of realism and some of you might have picked up on some of the things but I'll still give an example to explain what I mean. So I was told that Kogaiji was someone rather honour oriented - now I made him a Yakuza's son so he's basically a thug, and then in his current position, who in the right mind would respect honour? Let's be realistic here, most people who say : 'I'M GOING TO FIGHT HONOURABLY!' end up dead within seconds. Needless to say, I will try to make him a little more honour oriented but it won't be that evident because, well he's basically a thug's son and in a life or death situation.**

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**SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER!  
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